A Cleckheaton teacher who has had to resort to food banks after delays to her Universal Credit payments has had her case raised in parliament during Prime Minister’s Questions.
Tracy Brabin MP for Batley and Spen asked Theresa May what could be done to help Emma-Jayne Best, who had been working at Knowleswood Primary School in Bradford for over a year when she was told she no longer had a job.
The school’s previous headteacher had assured the 44-year-old her temporary contract would be renewed in 2018 but in November a new headteacher told her there wasn’t enough money in the budget to keep her on.
Emma-Jayne quickly signed up to Universal Credit and applied for an advance payment to tide her over the mandatory six weeks delay.
But she was then told she was not eligible for an advance payment because her last wage from the school was paid too recently.
Emma-Jayne explained: “Basically, because I last got paid by the school on December 21 it fed into the bracket where if you earn anything between the 20th of December and 21st of January you can’t get an advance payment.
“But that last wage has already been spent on my mortgage, bills, food, council tax, the running of a car etc.
“I’m not looking for long-term benefits, I’m applying for jobs all the time. I just need an emergency payment.”
Emma-Jayne, who worked as a teacher for 20 years up to last December, is currently living off £20 a week in child benefits plus a £10 a week contribution from the father of her son.
Kirklees Council have arranged for the single mum to receive deliveries from the local food bank in Batley and the situation has not gone unnoticed by her seven-year-old son, Jude.
Emma-Jayne said: “I try and keep things away from him. You don’t want kids to worry and he is a worrier.
“He’s seeing that food has arrived and he’s asked ‘where did that come from?’
“I’ve had to tell him it’s just from somebody that’s helping us out until mummy gets things sorted again.
“And when we’re out and he wants to buy something I have to go ‘well actually no, we can’t afford that.’”
Asked how she is coping Emma-Jayne replied: “I’m not really.
“I’m very strong and I think I can cope with most things but I’m living day by day at the moment, just waiting for a letter to come through the door telling me I’ve missed mortgage payments.
“I have visions and nightmares of my house being repossessed and items being sold from under us.”
“It makes you realise this can happen to anyone. You’re doing fine, you have a job and then something happens like you lose your job or illness and you’ve got no back-up from the benefit system that you’ve been paying into all your life.”
She added: “You don’t want to burden other people either.
“My parents live in Scotland and my dad’s 80 now so I don’t want to be troubling them when they’ve worked all their lives and this is the time when they should be enjoying themselves.
“My sister lives round here but she’s got a family of her own and it’s not easy for her as well.
“I really thought I’d be able to stand on my own two feet by now.”
Tracy Brabin MP for Batley and Spen grilled Theresa May at Prime Minister’s Questions today over Emma-Jayne’s situation.
The Labour MP said: “This week I have been approached by a constituent Emma-Jayne Best, a single-mum and up until December was as a teacher.
“She’s been told that she’s going to have to wait over 6 weeks for her first payment and been denied a hardship loan - this means she is now living off £20 per week child-benefit and the charity of foodbanks.
“Can the Prime Minster tell us if this is how Universal Credit is supposed to work and does she regret Emma-Jayne’s son now joining the nearly 9,000 children in poverty in Batley and Spen?”
Prime Minister Theresa May replied: “We made changes to the operation of Universal Credit which were announced in the budget including changes which mean the availability of advance payments has increased, the size of those advance payments has increased, but I’m sure if she would like to send the details of the particular case then we can look at it and make sure it is properly considered.”
